4 things I've learnt whilst being UNplugged

For the last few days I have taken a (slightly-forced) period of being UNplugged. Largely due to traveling backwards and forwards (an awesome wedding, a trip to my folks, a road trip to Warr's folks, a trip back to my folks and another awesome wedding) and of course the combo of pay-as-you-go airtime and severe lack of wifi is guaranteed to bring your connectivity right down to necessity. BUT, in a weird way it has been really good for me.

4 things I have learnt in my (very small) session of being UNplugged.{I use "UNplugged" very loosely, since I don't think it is actually possible to be completely unplugged these days - but I came pretty close}

1. People do NOT need to hear back from you within the hour.
   I get a lot of emails a day. And in my "usual life" I am sitting behind my computer trying frantically to reply (deal with) all of them as they come in. It's mostly unproductive for my work flow and if I haven't replied to an email in a day it starts making me anxious. In this period of being unplugged, there were emails that I actually really needed to reply to - but I did not have the signal/phone charger/airtime/wifi to physically do it. At first it started stressing me out - but then I made the decision to let it go and deal with it when I got back to my computer. I have since replied to some of the more pressing emails - and you know what? As far as I know, none of the people I emailed have died from not having heard back from me within 36 hours. Noted.
2. People receive WAY more emails than they need to - unconsciously. 
   I didn't ever think of myself as someone who subscribes to a lot of unnecessary email feeds. But after I saw my inbox piling up with hundreds (and hundreds) of emails in a few days - and having similar emails sitting right next to each other, it made me see very quickly how many emails I receive that I would just click mark-as-read in my usual day without even really thinking about it. Seeing the emails of the same company again and again over a few days made me realise just how much unnecessary content I am receiving in my inbox daily. I went on a mad "UNSUBSCRIBE" spree after that - culling the crap, keeping the coolness.
3. Facebook will survive without you, and you will survive without it.
   I use "Facebook" as the general term for social media (although, to be honest I have gone off Facebook generally after they tried to go all "twitter"). The point is - we (and especially as bloggers) get into a mindset that if we drop off the world of social media for a few seconds, that the world will suddenly forget about us. Or, that we won't be as connected to the world around us without it. Reality check: getting off social media is exactly connecting with the world around.
4. Bloggers Guilt is a real thing. Get over it.
   As a blogger, I think the hardest part about being "unplugged" is the feeling that I've been letting down the people who are waiting for my blog posts. This has actually been one of the hardest things to deal with because, as much as I love my blog and that it is my total happy place - it is still a LOT of hard work. Those people who run blogs know how much work goes into them - there is picture taking, often picture styling, photo editing, photo resizing, image uploading, writing, editing, source linking, appropriate crediting. And for me there is also the added, cartoon drawing, storyline planning, cartoon editing, cartoon resizing, uploading, editing, caption writing. Very often every. single. one of those things goes into a single blog post. If you're a blogger - the truth is, you never really go on holiday. There is always stuff to do. My philosophy on this is shifting slightly - in that, if I am on holiday, I would rather publish posts that make me super excited/happy/thrilled to post - rather than whack out a bunch of random shizz just to post content. That way this blog will always remain my happy place and it's readers will always have good content to devour. It's harder said than done when there are literally thousands of people expecting posts on the regular daily basis that I usually post! But even us bloggers need a chill out sometimes!

Anyway those are my random lessons and learnings for today! I have had such a fab time at home (although it's been super rushed and all over the place), it has been awesome to soak up some sunshine and time with friends and family! I'm back in London to join my man on Saturday....

Then on Sunday - we celebrate our very first wedding anniversary...

Can you even believe it?


{pic was taken at Exeter Game Lodge, whilst we were on honeymoon this time last year}